


I Cannot Bear the Thought of Dying Here Alone

by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Horror, Sith Temples, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 17:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12414381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning/pseuds/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
Summary: Obi-Wan didn't think he really had much of a choice. The Sith Temple dragged Anakin inside; of course he would go after him.





	I Cannot Bear the Thought of Dying Here Alone

 

“It's been days. I'm not sure how many anymore. I was keeping track, and then the... _thing_ chased me away from the one tiny break in the stone where I could see the sky. I don't know anymore.” Obi-Wan's voice wavered. “All I know is that I'm going to die here.”

He let his head lean back against the cold stone of the wall, the blue of his holodisk the only light his eyes had been given in so long.

It was recording now.

“I had hopes that I could find him. That Anakin was powerful enough to survive this place. But the clones have all died or disappeared, and I haven't seen any sign of Anakin.”

Obi-Wan's shoulders heaved as a sob welled up in his throat. “I couldn't just  _leave_ him here, Satine. We were fighting outside, when in a heartbeat he wasn't by my side anymore. I looked over to see him being dragged in the mouth of this cursed Temple by invisible hands. It was arrogant of me to think we could rescue him, but I  _could not leave him._ ”

The scrape of reptilian scales in the dark had Obi-Wan up and fleeing again, the sounds of his own breath harsh in his ears.

 

* * *

 

“It's the silence,” Obi-Wan murmured, crouched in both hunger and thirst. “It's lasted so long I think it's seeping into my bones and turning them to ice. And worse are the whispers. I'm not sure they exist. It may just be me going mad.  _ Satine.  _ Come find me.” His voice broke in a whimper. “I wish myself strong enough not to beg. To face it with dignity. But that is running from me fast and I no longer have the strength to hold it. I'll die clawing at some door, desperately trying to escape like some terrified civilian. They'll find my bones a thousand years from now and both despise and pity me for the frantic futility, the fingernails torn from beds.”

Obi-Wan bowed his head, shoulders hunching in on themselves. “I thought myself a knight, Satine, but I'm going to die like a coward. It's not like you'll ever see this. And even if you did, it would be mortifying.

“But  _ please,  _ I  _ cannot bear the silence _ !”

 

* * *

 

“I can hear it, Satine. Coming closer. I'm out of food and water. It's been long enough that my tongue is swollen and I no longer hunger. I could keep running until I die of dehydration, or I can face this creature that has pursued me through the endless night. At least satisfy the curiosity. Find out what it is.”

He held still, listening to the rasp of scales against stone.

“I wish— I wish I'd died back when Tup did. He was the last to succumb. I just— I wish I hadn't fought so hard to live. I don't want to die  _ alone _ here, Satine. Wait— wait. I can sense it. It's almost here.”  
A tear slipped down his cheek.

“I'm going to face it. No more running. I'm so tired of the running. Of not sleeping. Of the never-ending terror.”

He drew his lightsaber, one last time.

“Funny that it should end like this, after everything. The war infinitely far away.”

The thing neared the corner—

“Remember me fondly, if you can— I'd like to be remembered—”

Something lurched into view. It looked up at him, claws rising to protect its eyes from the light—

“ _ Anakin _ ?”

Obi-Wan stared at the deformed wreck of what had once been human.

And then a laugh escaped him.

Perhaps it was hysterical. He was fairly sure he didn't care.

“Of course. You were here longer than it took us to follow you in. Weren't you. Oh, I am sorry my brother.”

Nothing familiar in the Force, no understanding in the eyes, nothing left but a ravenous hunger and a deep, abiding hate.

_ So that is what happens when you survive too long in this place. _

The final battle was swift, bloody.

The Jedi fell with his throat slashed open, eyes staring vacantly into the dark as the creature that had once been Anakin Skywalker dragged its broken body away, already succumbing to the wounds inflicted upon it.

It stepped on the holodisk, crushing by accident the last images of a man it had once loved.

Four steps farther down the hall it collapsed, keening in pain before coughing up black blood as the last flickers of life died out.

Silence fell over the twisted halls.

Pure, uncanny silence.

 


End file.
